Return of the Romanov (Rewrite)
by Banshee-024
Summary: This is rewrite of my first fic! Beta needed. AU, grey Harry. Disclaimer : Original story and characters are mine, everything else is on JKR. Chapter 5 and later will be beta-ed. Huge thanks to xx ShamiksXa xx
1. Chapter 1 - Prologue

This is rewrite of Return of the Romanov. I hope the bad grammar will be lesser than in the first version. Still need for a Beta, just to look at the grammar mistakes, misspellings and forgotten words. I'll let the old version online and do a note there. I'll remain true to the main plot line and the pairing will remain the same. But with a few changes… Very few I promise.

"Talking"

 _'Though'_

 **"Russian"**

 _Prologues_

Harry James Potter, the son of James and Lily Potter, Dumbledore had plans for the young boy who merely was a few month old. Since the day he had the prophecy about the dark lord demise. He already planned everything for young Harry, he couldn't let things go to waste, he didn't trust others, and he made mistakes by trusting people during the wizarding war with Grindelwald. Albus Percival Wilfrid Brian Dumbledore had plans for the child of the prophecy and all pointers went to Harry Potter, the other boy being Neville Longbottom, but the boy had a weak core, he would be lucky to even make it a wizard. He would involve the Weasley for Harry when his first contact with the Wizarding world would come. But for the plan to go perfectly well, he needed to let the Potter die… It was for the greater good. Dumbledore inquired the Potter family to abandon Potter manor, there was no more warded house than Potter Manor, and he used a mild confundus charm on James to make him do as he wished. But that was not knowing Lily who've seen the right through him and lifted the charms. Lily convinced James to go hiding away from Britain, they could go anywhere, but they couldn't go to any Commonwealth country, they needed a country where the ICW had no jurisdiction. It was mid-October when they prepared to go into hiding, planning an international portkey for the Soviet Union, the only country where Dumbledore couldn't reach them. They didn't like how Dumbledore had tried to make them killed, they wanted to know why. They had a surprise visitor the 23 of that ninth month. Severus Snape had come to them to warn them about the Dark Lord plan but also about Albus Dumbledore plans. He told them everything he had heard about that night in the pub and how Dumbledore was planning to get them killed. James was angry about the old man and offered his house protection to his old nemesis who declined, stating that he needed to remain a spy in the Dark lord circle to protect them. He still viewed Lily as his best friend and the woman forgave him about that disastrous moment they had in their school days, when he had called her a mudblood. The Potter family disappeared from Britain the 28, they had sealed the Potter Vault in Britain, withdrawn 6 million Galleon with them for the Dwarves banks in the Soviet republics banks. Just enough for their safety in a country that was rumoured to be dangerous…

8 Mars 1991 – Moscow – Kremlin.

Gorbatchev, the actual general staff of the Soviet Union was watching the street of the red place from his windows. There was man in full Soviet-Wizard Uniform there with the Imperial crest on his vest. The man was James Charlus Potter now named Romanov. You see, when they came into Soviet Union, they were arrested by the Wizard guards, and they were suspected of them being spies for the commonwealth. Turns out after some blood test that James was distant descendant of the Romanov imperial blood line.

" **Romanov, I'm surprise you made it back alive from that fiasco with the Goblins invasion in Kamchatka. The Macusa pulled quite the operation against our gold reserves. The dwarves couldn't stop the goblins from taking our main sources of gold. Now Gringotts are putting pressure to us to ban the dwarves and take control of bank operation in the country. I should have placed the gold back here, instead of waiting for things to calm down a little before doing what was necessary. The days of the Soviet Union won't last, we are not people to surrender to threats and certainly to these despicable goblins. The dwarves are preparing to withdraw to Switzerland"** the Soviet Leader paused as he turned to James

 **"We did what we could, I made it alive, thanks to Dimitri. We were ready for their strikes, but we didn't plan to get flanked by british wizards. I believe they were old acquaintance of mine. The terrorist group calling themselves the Order of the Pheonix"** said James

Gorbatchev went back to his chair, the time had come. The prince needed to go back to the Britain and fight the dark lord like the prophecy had said. They knew about the prophecy of the Dark lord and Romanov's son. He pulled the small golden statue on his desk, the statue emitted a loud click and a door opened in the wall behind the Soviet Leader. Mikhaïl Gorbatchev invited James to follow him into the dark stairs straight to the catacombs of the Russian city. James was surprised to see a church right under the Kremlin. They didn't stop they went straight down to a dead end. Mikhail pulled a dagger from his pocket and sliced his thumbs, he waved his hand and tossed some blood on the rock wall. The rock melted, leading them to a big room, inside the room there was circles and pillars and in the middle there was a woman, blinded, naked and had pointy ears. A unaltered elf… How in hell did the Russian had this, the high elf were part of legends, they were believed to be made out stories for kids. But here was an authentic elf, still looking in her prime. Upon entering the room, the elf woman suddenly flew from where she was and chains only keeping her from going up further and eerie voice emanated from her…

 **"An old shadow shall rise from beneath Earth.**

 **Marking the unmarked Child, he will…**

 **The puppeteer shall feel regret…**

 **The dark lord will fall…**

 **The empire shall be reborn…**

 **The destiny had changed….**

 **Don't make the same mistake again…"**

The elf woman stopped talking and remained motionless on the center. James had paled, if he understood what the implication were with this prophecy, they just made things worse for them.

The old man was silent for a moment, the old one was supplanted with new one. The dark lord was not the priority now, no… There was this old shadow from beneath earth. He turned to Russian prince.

" **You've heard it, you will have to return home and quickly. If you stay here and get stubborn. You will make things worse for everyone"** said Gorbatchev in perfect English.

 **"I won't let some damn prophecy decide for the life of my first born"** said James staring at the soviet leader.

 **"The prophecy are absolute, my lord and the more you will fight it, worse it will become. We learned it the hard way with Nicolas II, while trying to change the future, he accidently unleashed the communist party to rise to power. You see, the Russian empire was never fated to become the Soviet Union. We were to enter a golden age where the Tsardom would become an administrative monarchy. But the price to get there was the life of his children, all of them had to die. But he couldn't let them die, he hired a lot of foreigners and experts to stop the prophecy to fulfillment"**

"Sissy" James said and an elf came from behind him.

"Master called sissy?"

"Yes tell my wife that the plan had changed, she will know what I'm talking about"

"As you wish master" said the elf before vanishing. James didn't like it, but if the Russian President was telling him the true. The only way to save his son was to go back in England and return to the old fool.

 **"Mister Romanov… James"** said Mikhail **"I fear for my country and my citizen. I have gift since this gift is also your birthright and so is your son and daughter."**

Both men went upstairs and returned back to the office. There the old man opened a secret cabin behind a painting of Vladimir Lenin, there he pulled out a wand. A red wand, the wood had the same tone to blood. He felt numb when he grabbed it but quickly pocketed it.

" **The wand is extremely powerful, it's a legacy dating back to the formation of Russia. His first wizard was Ivan IV. Don't take it for granted, we lost many wizard who didn't listen to this advice and died a very painful death** "

" **What is this wand made of?"**

 **"An old extinct tree, Blood pine, made for Warfare spells and battle magic. The core is made of a Baba yaga blood a very potent substance and also extremely unstable. The wand maker… used some Dwarven metal to stabilize the core. This wand as a name to it. The cursed wand"**

 **"And why is it named the cursed wand?"**

 **"It is not my story to tell"** said the Russian President. The old man also went to a shelves that was there. He pulled out a leather skin vest with pads for the legs and shoulders. And had small bones reinforcing the joint of the armor. The thing looked ancient, despise its bright red colors and a green shine from light reflection.

" **Only someone with Romanov blood can use it** "

James didn't say anything, he grabbed it when the old man handed it to him. He touch it and felt at ease immediately. He thanked him as he shrink it and pocketed it. Gorbatchev was tasking a few wizard-commissars to destroy all of the Soviet magical population files. The archives were burning, it was necessary to protect the status of secrecy, Gorbatchev didn't want the next one who ruled Russia to reveal things to the common population. The next one was the destruction of the muggles files, it would be a colossal task, they just had too much information and the time to destroy it would takes months. James bid his farewell to the Soviet Leader, he apparated back to his home. The soviet leader sat on his desk, he feared that the Americans would put a puppet in this seat one day. He needed to take some step ahead to protect his country.

St-Petersburg - 4PM – Romanov Castle.

Lily Potter was preparing her children trunks, Harry was downstairs in the main hall playing with his best friend, Anadeja Pavlov. A girl he befriended when he started the Wizard Academy of St-Petersburg. It was an academy for young witches and wizards, preparing them to live as wizard amongst muggles. They taught them the importance of the status of secrecy, history on both world, magical and muggles. The danger of some beast and introduction to a few subject like Potion making, Herbology, Care for Magical creatures and Battle Magic or Defense against Dark arts in the Commonwealth countries. He rode an Icestorm-II, the Russian equivalent to the British Firebolt, the Icestorm was slightly more manoeuvrable than the British broomstick but was less fast in compensation. The flying race ended with Harry winning against Anadeja.

"I'll miss you" said the blonde haired girl.

"I'll miss you too" said the boy hugging her.

At the door of Potter Castle, Rosie Potter, Harry's little sister was glaring at the girl who hugged his big brother. She was overly protective of her big brother, for her anyone who approached him was a danger to him. She huffed when she started to pull her small trunk with wheels on them.

"Mistress please! Let me take it for you" said the small elf

"No Ted, let me do it! I'm a big girl now!" she said trying to pull the trunk away from the small elf hands.

"But mistress, I'm here to serve you!" said the elf protesting, he didn't want her mistress to over-excess herself.

"I don't want a slave, I want a friend!" she said. The elf stopped from trying to pull, there was no one who wanted to befriend elves, and she was the first to openly say it. The elf started to cry of joy, Rosie was startled and reluctantly let the small elf take her trunk.

James had just witnessed what was happening. He smiled at his daughter, she was exactly like her mother. Full of compensation, but he suspected that Rosie had some of his Marauder temper.

Lily went outside followed by a group of witches, they were her friends since they came here to Russian wizard community. They were very sociable people, their husbands were busy and some had lost them over time with all the intrigue between the muggles government. They all hugged Lily before apparating home.

"Master James Romanov" said Peter, the chief elf of the Potter-Romanov elves. "We are ready, the apparating runes will activate in a few minutes, and we will take your trunks to Potter Manor"

"Thank you Peter. Make sure to sleep once you are at our home" said James, the elf bowed before vanishing with their trunks.

The family positioned themselves on the runes drawn on the ground, all of them were linked to the apparition room in the Ministry of Magic in England. They all were wearing cloak and pulled their hood to hide their face. The runes on the ground started to shine a bright blue when the four of them vanished a silent pop. They all landed right in front of the statut of Dumbledore in the main hall. They were stopped by Enforces, a parallel branch to the Aurors for the protection of the Ministry.

"Halt! Take out your Hoods and reveal yourself! Failure in complying will result in your detention!" said a grey uniformed man with a cap with the same color. Just like in the time of Grindelwald, people using uniform in time of war. James obeyed and pulled his hood, he smiled at the enforcer.

"James?!" said the enforcer who rushed and hugged his best friend.

"Hello Sirius. Long-time no see"


	2. Chapter 2 - Potter Manor & Diagon Alley

Disclaimer - This is a fan-fiction - You know the drill, blah blah blah, J.K.R. characters not mine.

"talking"

" **Russian** "

Chapter 2 – Potter Manor

It had been 5 month since the Potter came back to England. They were busy with the bureaucratic mess in the ministry and the hostilities from the Goblins, but they managed to get everything back after involved old alliances with the right people in the ministry, they vault were reopened and they redeemed all the shares they had sold before leaving for Russia. James was in the living room of Potter Manor, with Sirius Black, his best friends. They talked about the things they missed, the war that abruptly stopped for unknown reason after their disappearance in 1981. Sirius had come in the house with his son, Daedalus Sirius Black. Daedalus was a little shorter than Harry, but both were quick to befriend each other. Daisy was there as the third wheel of the group, she didn't like being a part of Harry.

"So any news about Dumbledore and the order?" asked James

"Well, of course. Dumbledore is still the headmaster of Hogwarts and doesn't leave the castle that much now. Something about empowering the wards. You-know-boo had tried to take the castle a few times after your disappearance. Last time we repelled them with heavy losses, more than when we were still attending school. The Longbottom are gone, we know that Neville is a ward of the ministry now and sent to an orphanage. Thanks to Dumbledore who made sure that Augusta was sent to St-Mungo's for dementia"

"How dare he! That's my godmother!" said James in angry tone.

"We were against his decision as well. You know what he told us? 'it is for the greater good'" sneered Sirius. "I left the order after that and Peter was found dead a few days later. With the dark mark on his right arm"

"He was the spy?" said James who couldn't believe it and they almost had let the man be the secret keeper of Potter Cottage. He sighed in relief that they had not followed the plan of the old man.

"How… How did Frank and Alice died?"

"They fought bravely, they managed to kill the Lestranges brothers, but failed to kill Bellatrix, she escaped. But they didn't count on Greyback who was waiting in the shadow, they were killed by the werewolf"

"And where were you?"

"Busy fighting Giants, Mountain trolls and Voldemort mercenaries. Egyptian Scorpion riders"

"Foreigners?" said James in Disbelief.

"Well the war was about to escalate into a global wizarding war just like with Grindelwald, but something happened. Voldemort… He just vanished. The death eater surrendered, they claimed to have been under the imperius curse and the old man just accepted their reasoning, something about second chance crap. They formed a bloc in the ministry now, they are under the rule of Lucius Malfoy, traditionalist party they call themselves"

"A fitting name for inbred pureblood" he said, Sirius laughed, he was glad that James still had his sharp tongue. While James was thinking about what Gorbachev had told him, things were getting worse now. He sighed, now he only had to try to make things less hard for his son.

"After retiring of the Order, I joined the Enforce initiative. An armed branch of Aurors with authorization to use lethal curse. Dumbledore had fought hard to stop its creation. But Minister Bagnold just dismissed him, for once i was glad to join her cause. I was among the first who volunteered. Chief Enforcer Class 5 – Sirius Orion Black at your services my lord"

"Fancy title"

"Thanks. By the way, where were you all this time?"

"I was in Russia, we were warned by a friend about something involving Harry. If we had followed Dumbledore plan, we would not be here"

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say, that Harry was involved in a prophecy. I suspect Dumbledore to have attempted to end our lives by abandoning Potter Manor for Potter Cottage. We fled into the only country where the ICW had no jurisdiction"

"The Soviet Union" Said Sirius, James nodded.

"And… it's turn out that I have Romanov blood. I'm a prince of Russia in the Russian wizarding Society" mumbled James, annoyed by all the political crap he had to go when he was made a Prince of Imperial Russia.

"Merlin Knutsack! You're a Tsar!" exclaimed Sirius Loudly and bowed before him. James just rolled his eyes with his friend antics.

"Knock it off Sirius. It's not like I wanted to be royalty… or a tsar"

"You never acted like a lord to begin with" chuckled Sirius remembering their school times. James Smiled, he remembered as well.

Their conversation was interrupted when the fireplace flared green and Amelia Bones came out of it.

"Amelia Bones" greeted James

"Black now" said the woman adjusting her robes and brushed the dust off her shoulders.

"Excuse me… Amelia Black" he said before turning back to Sirius "When did you marry?"

"5 years ago, I would have liked for you to be my best man"

"I'm sorry to have missed that"

"It's okay, you are here now" smiled Sirius, the door was opened, it was Harry.

"Hey Son, come here. I'd like you to meet your godfather" Harry went to them and inspected Sirius. He remembered about some dog who was always next to him when he was a baby.

"Padfoot?" Sirius Nodded, the young boy dashed to him, Sirius opened his arm and caught his godson.

"How is my little prongslet" asked Sirius.

"Fine, I didn't recognize you without your fancy black fur trench coat" said Harry, James had a belly laugh.

"I know, everyone told me that. But I like this uniform. I think its suit me" he said as Harry pulled back from him and stared at him.

"Nope, you look silly in that" Sirius growled but sighed before ruffling Harry messy hairs. He inspected his godson, he had the messy black hairs of James, green eyes like Lily and fancy noble clothes like his grandfather Charlus. Both of them talked a lot. Daedalus was there watching his father talk to his god-brother. After a few minutes, Sirius was back to James, while Harry went back to his bedroom with Daedalus and Daisy. The kids were startled when an owl started to peck the window.

"That's scared me!" said Daedalus, Rosie laughed at him, while Harry just ignored his little sister antics. She could be mean to other sometimes. The owl had a letter with him, he grabbed the letter, and the owl was waiting for something. He remembered that here they need to pay or feed them. He grabbed 2 sickle from his pocket and paid the owl who flew away after the money was inside his pouch. It was a letter for his Dad. He went downstairs to the main hall and opened the door again. Sirius and James were drinking some old fashioned Rum, while Amelia was in the kitchen helping Lily prepare supper.

"Dad there is a letter for you" said Harry approaching the fireplace where the adults were.

"Well, give it to me" said James, he handed the letter to his dad before going back to his bedroom.

James broke the seal of the letter, unfolded the parchment and began reading.

 _Dear Lord Potter_  
 _Our Survey Book had added your son name: Harry Potter in the next batch of Hogwarts students for 1991. Let me be the first to tell you, Welcome Back James. Here is the list for Harry schools supplies. The departure will happen at 2 September and the ceremony of entrance will happen at night at 5PM in the same date._  
 _Sincerely – Headmistress Minerva McGonagall_

"At least, I don't have to see the old man right away" said James.

27 July - Diagon Alley

It was a hot day in July, Harry and his parents went to Diagon Alley to get Harry's school supplies. The daily prophet didn't wait that long to get them into the front page. This Skeeter lady had quite the imagination about their disappearance and many theory came about them being dark wizard, while other were about them being traitors. The good thing is, Rita Skeeter didn't know that the Potter had 67% of the Daily prophet the remaining being to the ministry. Lily had sent a letter to the prophet couldn't ignore, either they sacked Skeeter or they would be forced to close, she had a knack with wizarding laws. Many witches and Wizards whispered when they saw the Potter walking in the street in Diagon Alley. Rosie just pulled her middle finger to them, Harry laughed while Lily tried to discipline her about her manners but failed. James just chuckled when he heard many old wizards and witches gasp at her daughter. They were walking in front of an animal store, Harry stopped when his gaze meet the form of a peregrine Falcon. The animal was beautiful, the falcon feeling Harry's stare, returned the gazes. Harry tilted his head on the left, the falcon imitated him and then Harry smirked.

"Dad, I want this one" pointing at the falcon who gaze on him now.

James smiled and went to the vendor to buy the bird, he was surprised by the price, 350 Galleon for the bird.

"What is his name?" asked Harry

"Well, he doesn't answer to anyone. You're the first who he reacted to" said the vendor.

"How about Horus?" said Harry to the Bird who emitted a noise in approval. Harry opened the birdcage and the bird flew to his shoulder. Lily and Rosie went to Flourish and blotts to get Harry's books, while James and his son went to Ollivander for the boy first wand.

The venerable old man was startled when he heard the bells of his door ring, he was busy getting the wands back to their shelves, the last boy was a difficult customer. He went to the counter after he put the last box on its place.

"Ah! I didn't expect you to come early Mr. Potter" said Ollivander.

"Who do you think we are? The Weasley?" said James in a mocking tone.

"Ah! Good to see you still have that way with words. Lord Potter" said Ollivander smiling at James. "Now let's see what would be good for Young Harry Potter"

Ollivander pulled a measurement ruler with him as he measured Harry length, wand arm length, size and his wrist measures. He then went to the back of his store and came with several boxes. He tried all of them, only one had more or less an affinity with him. It was a Holly wand with a Phoenix feather core. But before they could continue, James pulled a red wand from his pocket and told the old man see it. Ollivander eyes widened upon recognizing the wand.

"Could it be… The cursed wand?" he said grabbing the blood wood wand. "Fascinating… I feel war, blood shed, disturbing past… I never expected to see the cursed wand after Grindelwald first rise to power. It was presumed lost forever. Blood pine… Fascinating. The core… What a fool substance, who in their right mind would use that for a core? Wait… I sense a metallic liquid inside…That stabilized that foul blood. Dangerous but powerful"

"What can you tell me about the wand" asked James.

"The wand only react to the imperial bloodline. This wand is ancient like the famed Elder wand of the Peverell brothers' tales. This wand was involved everytime the European land had changed, both world were always involved the magical and the mundanes"

"You mean the muggles"

"Muggles, Mundanes, no-maj. Same thing." Dismissed the old man. "It's fascinating to see Napoleon Bonaparte Wand here"

"The French Emperor had Russian blood?"

"No, of course not! But his mistress did, she was the one who helped him rise to power and seize control of the French republic." He said it like it was common knowledge.

"How did you know that?"

"Simple, the wand told me" he said as he handed the wand to Harry who grabbed it. Something strange happened, a black mist came out from the ground and started to envelope Harry, James paled and he remembered that damn new prophecy and the the mist vanished. Ollivander was staring at Harry, his mouth wide open. Could the legend be true? Was this boy the one fated to unite all the wizarding community? No it couldn't be.

"Fascinating…"

"What do you mean?" asked Harry

"You see, Mr. Potter, this wand is special. Despise being cursed, he had accepted you as his master. You are destined to great things, greater than what you-know-who is capable of. Your destiny might have been something like the Boy-who-lived, **but with this. You are now the boy-who-will-conquer** " he said winking at them.

" **So you knew?"** Said James

"Or course I knew, I might not look like it, but I've seen empires and kingdoms rises then fall. Your boy could be our mercy or our doom. I'll let fate decide that. And don't worry, I won't tell a thing about you. It's not like they would listen to me to begin with" he said chuckling.

After paying the wand maker their due with the holly wand, they went back to Potter Manor, Lily and Rosie had also brought everything. Harry had now a complete set of wizard robes, muggles clothes and everyday wizard clothes for Hogwarts. James was thinking about getting back to Russia to visit some old friends and contacts. With the Potter printed in the prophet, it wouldn't take long before Voldemort would target them again. He had to take some step ahead in order to counter the dark wanker.


	3. Chapter 3 - Hogwarts

"Talking"

" **Russian** "

" _French_ "

Chapter 3: Hogwarts and Sorting

31 September – Potter Manor – Harry birthday.

Harry Potter was playing outside with Daedalus, both cousin were close friends now. They raced through the property with their respective broom. Harry had his Icestorm, while Daedalus had his Firebolt. Despise being young, Daedalus was a good racer, he could easily fit to be a chaser just like his dad when Sirius attended school. While Harry was better than his dad who used to be also a chaser, he could try for Seeker and that's what his father had always told him when he started flying with a broom since he was 6. James and Lily had a surprise for Harry, when the cousins landed on the ground, the door opened, there stood Anadeja Pavlov, Harry best friend. Harry beamed seeing his best friend for his birthday, he quickly went to hug her and presented her to Daedalus who got red on his face.

 **"This is so weird"** mumbled Harry to Anadeja, she just rolled her eyes, and the new boy found her cute something Harry couldn't express since he was so dense.

 **"By the way, what are you doing here? How are the others?"** asked Harry

 **"They are fine, Viktor wanted to come but couldn't since his father didn't trust the British government. My family are refugees, our lands were destroyed by Goblins. With all the shit happening all over the country. We decided to flee… Harry… Yuri was killed with his entire family"** Harry was saddened, Yuri was his first friend, they stopped seeing each other when he started going to Durmstrang. He hugged tightly Anadeja who returned the gesture.

" **I'm glad you're safe** " said Harry.

" **Do you know what this Hogwarts School is?"** both of them pulled out.

 **"Yes, it's a wizarding school here. I'm going there in a few days"**

 **"I'm starting next year"** beamed the girl. Harry was pleased with that news.

"I know that she is your best friend, but… can you speak in English?" asked Daedalus.

"I vill try…." Said Anadeja

"She is still learning"

The kids stayed outside until the sunset, they called inside for Harry birthday. The dining room had been decorated. Harry sat in the middle while people started chanting happy birthday once in English and another in Russian. He was embarrassed to have to go twice for it. After he blew the candles, the elves came in with gifts, Rosie been starring at the gifts for quite sometimes Harry rolled his eyes and invited his little sister in helping him to unwrapping the gift. She beamed at the invitation and sat next to him and began unwrapping a gift from someone named Andromeda Tonks. Harry gasped when he unwrapped is own, it was the invisibility cloak that his dad had always with him. Rosie was startled when he felt two pairs of hands wrap her. It was Harry who thanked her for the gifts. Sissy, Yuri, Peter and Tommy, the elves came in with each their own gifts. Sissy had carved an Icestorm and a Firebolt one in wood and another in a rock, both of them when inside a crystal ball duelling in the small space inside. Yuri and Peter had both gave him a huge box full of different sweets and Tommy gifted him with a ring, the elf had made it himself with transfiguration magic.

"If you are in danger, just infuse some magic to it and it will activate" said Tommy the elf, Harry looked confused. "It's a portkey, if you ever are in danger, you will land next to me"

James and Lily thanked the small elf, and Harry smiled at his gift. The last gift that was unwrapped by his little sister was from the Blacks. He found a set of clothes, a pair of wand holsters, flags with red and gold colors and Silk robes. They were enjoying the cake and the dinner, when they were interrupted by Yuri the elf who dragged someone inside harshly with elves magic. James had the stranger at wand point, next to him was the Sirius, Amelia, and Lily all pointing at him. The kids were ordered to upstairs.

"Damn elf…" mumbled the stranger weakly on the ground, blood started to spread on the floor. James recognized Severus as he went to him and help him get up.

"Ah Snevillus" sneered Sirius "Good to see you are alive"

"I don't have time for your shit…" said Snape, James was closing the wound, but it was impossible the wound reeked dark magic.

"Sissy bring me my satchel of potion. Lily this is a flesh eating curse" Lily gasped as she started mumbling a counter-curse pointing at the wound.

"But who would try to kill Snape? I thought he was a spy!" said Sirius

"It was Dumbledore…" was all he was able to say before losing consciousness.

The cursed wound was healed, that would leave a nasty scar and they forced Snape to drink a blood replenishing potion and finally casted an enervate which woke up the potion master instantly.

"What did Dumb bell do?" asked Sirius now intrigued by what revelation Snape was about to say.

"He set me up to die, I don't know how he did it, but he set the death eater into killing me. Since the dark lord disappearance. Things have been strange with them" James and Lily stared at each other before nodding.

"Well, we can give you protection if you seek it. Call it paying a debt when you saved our lives" said James

"No, I need to make myself disappear. I'll think of something" Snape got up but still felt sore from all the blood he had lost.

While in Harry's bedroom

Harry been playing Magical Risk with Anadeja, Daedalus and Rosie. Harry had the black soldiers, while Daedalus had the green, Anadeja had the yellow and Rosie had the red ones. The game was a gift from Andromeda, the small piece were made of lead and smaller than the muggle version. They loved it when the small lead soldiers went into formation when they attacked each other. So far the red were about to gain control of Asia, while Daedalus aimed for Africa and Australia. Anadeja and Harry were fighting over the Americas and Europe. Harry had 200 lead soldier in battle line formation over Mexico, while Anadeja had a battle of 50 yellow troopers waiting in east of United-states. Both tossed the dices, Harry had 6, 4 and 2 while Anadeja had two six. The battle formation fired, the yellow didn't lost any troopers while a bunch of black lead soldiers fell and went back into the box for black soldiers.

 **"Damn! I was sure I would get you this time"**

 **"You can always try"** smirked Anadeja.

The game was interrupted when Sirius came in to get Daedalus, it was time to get home. Anadeja was also going home, she stayed in the ICW embassy located in Edinburgh for the time being. They would get authorization to rent an apartment after they had cleared some papers with them. Rosie pouted, she had almost won an entire continent that would have made her Queen of Earth, since they were busy attacking each other and she had literally a free way to get Asia bonus. The kids went downstairs to see their parents.

"What happened to Sev?" asked Harry

"He went back home" said James smiling at them.

"Up you go, it's time for you to go to bed. It's almost midnight" said Lily, both kids mumbled something about no schools and didn't feel like sleeping.

King's cross – London – 2 September 10h30

The Potter were in the front of the 9 ¾ platform, they explained that Harry had go right in the pillar since it was a portal to the magical side of the King's cross. He mumbled something about Britain being so ancient and still in the Victorian age. He really like Russia mode of transportation than having muggles see them disappear as they went in the pillar. The Black were there to wish good luck on Harry first year at Hogwarts. The Pavlov wanted to see the Potter and Anadeja came hugging Harry before he went to the other side. They didn't see the redhead family looking at them from afar. Well, the twins were late and decided to go straight through the pillar without waiting for the others to come. Harry shrunk his trunk and put it inside his pocket, he saw a girl struggling to get his own in the trains. The others kids didn't say anything, they were busy snickering at the brown bushy haired girl. Having seen enough, he went to help her and casted a levitation charm on her trunk.

"Thanks" she said smiling

"No problem" He said returning the smile.

"My name's Hermione Granger" said the girl

"Harry Potter… And Romanov actually"

"You are Russian?" asked the girl.

"Eh… No, but I lived there for as long as I can remember"

They were looking for a cabin, they settled inside an empty cabin. Harry un-shrunk his trunk, opened it and started reading some of his school books. Hermione seeing him imitated his actions and began rereading her own school books. Someone knocked at the door, the door was not open, and these people had manners. Harry closed his book after putting a piece of paper there to not lose the page, get up and opened the door. Two girls were there with their trunks.

"Hello, you don't mind if we sit here?" said a blonde girl with blue eyes. The other had dark brown hairs and brown eyes. She also that mischievous grin on her face when she saw Harry.

"No, plenty of empty space here" he said gesturing the girls to enter as he went back to his seat.

"Daphne Greengrass" said the blonde girl

"Tracy Davis" said the dark brown girl.

"Harry Potter"

"Hermione Granger"

Both girl looked at Hermione.

"Muggleborn?"

"Yes? Is that a problem?"

"No, no. We are just surprised to see you relaxed next to him" said Davis pointing at Harry.

"Hmmm… Do I need to know something?" Said Harry not sure what she meant.

"No just that, there are stories about you being a wizard with lot of slaves"

"Tracy, you know these stories are just fallacious fictions"

"You are telling me that there is someone writing stories about me being some dark wizard?"

"Dark Wizard? No, but there is some about you being a good Sh…" Daphne had put a hand on her mouth. She mumbled something which made Daphne irritated.

"We don't want to hear what kind of book you like to read" said Daphne as she withdraw her hand.

"Fine"

The door swung open and a redhead boy came in.

"Hey, can i come in, the other cabin are all full. Are you Harry by the way?" the girls could see that the boy was lying through its teeth. They didn't say anything since the one concerned had lifted an eyebrow. The boy knew who he was obviously but his instinct told him to not befriend the boy.

"No. My name is Vladimir Romanov. I'm a transfer student" he said, he was not lying since he really did transfer from St-Petersburg Private Wizard Academy to Hogwarts and his full name was Harry James Vladimir Potter Romanov. None of the girls in the cabin had said anything, to busy looking at the boys who were staring at each other. The redhead scowled before closing the door.

"Wow I never seen a Weasley scowl like a Malfoy" said Greengrass after the door was closed.

"I didn't like how he looked at me"

"He obviously knew who you were" said Hermione from her seat.

"Well to bad for him all seats are taken" said Tracy laughing.

"What house do you think, you will end up?" asked Hermione to Harry

"I honestly don't know or care" said Harry

"But the houses…"

"Are just a way to put people against each other" said Harry. The house system was so ancient. A school was made to teach students not pitch them against each other even after the students had finished school.

"But hypothetically…" started Hermione.

"I won't mind if I end up in Gryffindor or Slytherin"

"Is something wrong with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?" asked Tracy

"I don't think I fit the description of either of these houses. I'm loyal to my friends and my family not to a group of people having the same colors on theirs robes. And honestly… Ravenclaw? I'm not very fond of the blue"

The girls said nothing, they merely stared at the young boy notion of preference. He discarded Ravenclaw because they were blue. The sound made by the train started to make Harry feel sleepy, his head started to hang on the side as he touched the cold window. He fell asleep…

The dream was very strange, a city was burning, people were screaming in the streets, he could even hear explosions and see flashes since it was the night. There stood soldier in navy blue uniforms while there was a group of green vest soldiers shielding someone. He remembered the painting of the old emperor. Alexander 1st, emperor of Russia since 1801 to 1825. Why did he had a dream like that? Then entered a rather tall man, wait… Why was he tall to begin with? Wasn't history book depicted him as small? Napoleon, he waved a wand that made the Russian guards knelt while the Russian emperor stood his ground.

" _Handcuff him_ " ordered the French emperor. The French Soldiers scuffed the emperor and forced him to kneel before Napoleon.

" **Interesting place** " Smiled Napoleon, while outside there were still fights in the streets.

" **Spar me your spit bastard. What do you want?** " Sneered Alexander

" **You have something that used to be mine. A Red wand, I need it** " he stopped smiling.

" **Good luck finding it! My messenger might be half way to Konigsberg now, the English will get it** " smiled the detained Russian emperor. The French emperor started to get annoyed as he slapped the Russian emperor with the back of his hand. Alexander spat some blood on the floor before glaring at the French bastard.

" _Send a message to our garrison in Prussia_ " Said Napoleon to a high officer behind him, the French officer bowed before going out of the office.

 **"Don't think, you have won. We will be back** " Said Napoleon before storming out of the office. Alexander was chuckling, the red wand was there on the wall the entire time. It was a miracle that the bastard didn't even see it. The French soldiers still in the office started to remove the security on their musket as their aimed at the kneeling Russian soldiers and the emperor. Alexander casted a wandless freezing curse at them, they all stood there eyes widened as they were paralyzed from inside and soon their body were covered with ice.

" **What a way to die** " said a Russian Soldier as the emperor lifted the imperius curse from them.

" **What do we do now**?" asked another soldier.

"We hope that our emissary with the Cossack followed orders in burning villagers and crops" said the emperor "And Kutuzov didn't try an offensive and cost us our armies. The French won't last that long with the winter"

Harry woke up with the Russian emperor smiling at the retreating French soldiers.

Suddenly the train stopped abruptly, the stopping tossed him on the ground while the girls were gripping their seats. The girls were already in their wizarding robes.

"Damn… that's hurt"

"You alright?" said Hermione

"I guess so… Did I miss something?" He got up and went back to his seat.

"You just mumbled something while sleeping and the abrupt stop just now" said Tracy smirking

"You should change to your wizarding robes" suggested Daphne, Harry pulled his Holly wand and transfigured his clothes into Wizarding robes.

"You can do Transfiguration?!" said the three girls at the same time.

"Yeah… We learned early, where I come from" said Harry as he pocketed his wand back to his pocket. "By the way what's going on?"

The door swung open and a tall man with trench coat came in, inspecting the cabin before going out, he was followed by a group of enforcers.

"What are they doing here?" said Tracy

"How should I know, I don't work in the ministry" said Daphne

The controller voice startled the group.

"May you excuse us, the ward felt a very dark magic in the train, and we didn't want any incident happening so we summoned the Aurors to inspect the cars."

It was half an hour later that they were at Hogsmeade, went by boat following an half-giant to the shore of Hogwarts then going upstairs. A stern looking witch was staring at the new batch of students, she was not impressed by the new ones. Her eyes stopped at the form of Harry Potter.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Now in a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates, but before you take your seats, you need to be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. While you are here, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rules breaking and you will loses points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded a cup" With her speech over, she opened the door and went to main Hall, the firsties just behind her.


	4. Chapter 4 - First day

"Talking"

Chapter 3 – Sorting and First day

The old man watched as the firsties came in, following Minerva McGonagall from behind. Regulus Black, the new Potion teacher was watching the new batch of firsties, his eyes stopped on Harry, the boy feeling his stare and smirked. Regulus shifted uncomfortably on his chair, the boy knew something, he was sure of that. Quirrell was drinking his wine, he enjoyed the smell and the after taste of the red wine. What was horrible with his hairstyle with the top of his head completely hairless, he looked like a monk and his wardrobe didn't do to improvise his image. McGonagall stopped next to a chair and what looked like an old worn out hat.

"I'll call your name and you will sit on the chair. So we can sort you..."

She looked at the large parchment, unrolled it and cleared her throat.

"Abbot, Hannah!"

A blond girl walked to her and sat at the chair before the hat was put on her head.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the Yellow and Black strip house welcomed her.

And this were going on for 20 minutes, Susan Bones went to Hufflepuff, Hermione went to Ravenclaw, Daphne and Tracy went to Slytherin. The redhead named Ronald went to Gryffindor. Neville went to Gryffindor, the redhead stared at him like he waited for him to join the Gryffindor table.

"Harry James Vladimir Potter Romanov" said McGonagall lifting an eyebrow, which was a rather long name for a young wizard. She reread the parchment just to be sure.

Harry walked up to the front, he heard a lot of whisper and some who scowled upon hearing his last name. The boy sat at the chair, waiting for McGonagall to put the hat on his head. The teacher adjusted themselves on the chairs and the Headmaster adjusted his half-moon glasses.

'Ah!? Hmmm... I see... This is interesting... A Russian Prince in the land of Hogwarts. Never thought I would see something like this happen' he heard the hat voice inside his head.

'I guess there is a beginning to everything' though Harry.

'The Headmaster persuaded me to place you in Gryffindor, but I see if I done this. It would be a disservice to the House. Because, you really don't give a shit about traditions.'

Harry chuckled, the hat was right. He wasn't interested in following an old tradition that belonged in the past century.

'I doubt that Hufflepuff would do you good. A good camouflage maybe, but Helga would curse me if I sent you there. Ravenclaw... Yes, you would do well with them, despise your reluctance to use their house colors. Maybe I could persuade you to go there? No? Okay... Then that leave us...'

"SLYTHERIN!" His school robes were now green and sliver. Yes the colors suited him along with his green eyes. He smiled after McGonagall had pulled the hat and he went to sat next to Tracy and Daphne. The Gryffindors looked like they had swallowed something awful, the Headmaster had lost for a moment his twinkling, Regulus rolled his eyes and Quirrell was too busy eating an Ice cream. The Hufflepuff were staring at the Russian boy. The Ravenclaw were waiting for the Sorting to continue, Yet McGonagall hadn't moved since Harry had went to the Slytherin Table.

"Professor McGonagall?" called a student in the Gryffindor table, that was enough for her to regain her composure and continued with the sorting.

"That's a long name" said Tracy smirking.

"A Potter in Slytherin, Never thought I would see that in my life time" said a blond boy who had greasy hairs.

"There always a first to everything"

"But a Romanov?" said Daphne "You are a Russian prince... Are you going to be a Tsar for the eastern Magical world?"

"No, I don't believe I will be made a Tsar and I highly doubt that the soviet republics will let someone like me to hold power over them. It's merely a title like the Queen of England in the muggle side"

"Theodore Nott" said a boy who sat next to him after his sorting, he presented his hand

"Harry Potter" he said as he shook the new boy hand. An Italian boy sat across Harry, his name was Blaise Zabini, and the boy had a good poker face.

"Blaise Zabini" he presented himself.

"Harry Potter"

"Theodore Nott"

"Daphne Greengrass"

"Tracy Davis"

"Draco Malfoy" said the blonde boy.

"A pleasure" said the five of them to the blond boy.

The sorting had ended and all the first year students went to their assigned house. Dumbledore cleared his throat before he got up.

"To the new student and the returning one. I bid Welcome. I have a few warnings before we start the feast. The third floor is out of bound to any student, unless they wish to see a painful and horrible death. I will also remind you that the forbidden Forest is forbidden. Mr. Filch also wanted me to fill you on banned items from Hogwarts, if you want to look at the complete list, you can come to his office and consult the list. And I have a few words for you. Here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" And with that he sat back before he waved his hand as he lifted the notice me not charm on the food.

"That fossil is mental" said Draco before picking some food as he stole some potatoes from another first years. Draco was already showing his intent to be some kind of leader. Now Harry just to know how the Slytherin Hierarchy worked and get a position where he would left alone for the coming years. Zabini was staring at the Blond boy who bullied half-blood wizards and witches. After a review of his option and feeling a probe on his mind, he went to serve himself with some brown ash potatoes, chickens, a bowl of soup and he finished with a 3 chocolate cake. The feast was over, the food disappeared. Someone yelled after losing his plate of chicken wings. It was Weasley from the Gryffindor table. An older student came to them, he had a P badge on his robe.

"Hello, Firsties, my name is Adam Anders, I'm the prefect that was assigned to escort you to our common room. Follow me and don't get lost. There are fate worse than death in the corridors of this castle" The firsties walked along the Gryffindors, they went upstairs while the Slytherin went downstairs to the Dungeons.

They stopped into what looked a empty wall, they heard a eerie voice coming from above.

"I devour all things, flowers, trees, beast, birds, bites steel, gnaws iron, grinds hard stone to meal, beats mountain down, ruins towns and slays kings. What am i?"

"Time" said the prefect.

Harry lifted an eyebrow, he was surprised that the Slytherin would use a muggle riddle for their password. But, it was cunning in the end, no one would suspect the Slytherin to use a muggle riddle as a password to get in. He really loved Tolkien books, his favorites were the hobbits and the lord of the rings. Well, there was also the Silmarillion, but it felt incomplete for him since the book was published by the author's son after his death.

The prefect went inside, followed by the firsties. Inside stood Regulus Black next to the fireplace waiting for them.

"As the head of house of this noble House. I'll ask you to follow these five tenets of House Slytherin.  
Firstly, outside of this common room, the Slytherin are united. It is a measure of protection since everyone label Slytherins as a dark house. Showing a united front will deter any attempt to intimidate us. Be wary about House Gryffindor.

Secondly, Make sure to follow the rules of this establishment. We are not some lowly Gryffindors that break rules every single week to show how stupid we are. At least make sure that you are not caught in the act, because I assure you, the punishment you will have from the headmaster or other head of house will be small next to what I have in reserve for you" the firsties gulped.

"Thirdly, if you have problems with other member of your house, refers to Rule number one and make sure that any friction you have is dealt inside this common room. We also have a duel training room to help you... Loosen your arguments...

Fourthly, always walk outside of the common room in group of two minimum. In the last few years, the other house had been rather hostile towards us. I would like to avoid any injuries to the new students until at least you are in your second year. There you can do whatever you want as long as you follow the rules.

And Lastly. Be sneaky, never show your true talent or true self to the other houses. Use your Cunning in acting like you are someone that you are not. Only that way, you will show yourself as a true member of this house." Finished Regulus before he went to his office, giving the responsibility of the sorting of dorms to the prefect who groaned.

"Alright, you heard him. Now it's time for you to be sorted to your dorms"

Crabbe, Goyle, Thompson and Malfoy had the first dorm. Parkinson, Bulstrode, Wilkins and Evergreen had the second. Zabini, Jackson, Patterson, Anderson had the third one. Then the prefect hesitated...

"Potter, Nott... Greengrass, Davis. You have the last one" he said, Anders was surprised that there was a dorm with 2 boys and 2 girls in. He went to Black office and get the confirmation of what was on his parchment. While the fourth group went to see their new dorms. The dorm was bigger than the others, a large living room, with four doors close to the entrance. Harry went to the first door on the left and opened it. It was a bedroom for one student. His trunk was there. The bedroom had everything he needed, a bed, a desk for his studies, a tablet, a large window offering a view of the black lake water. Corals, fishes, a large forest of green algae and the moon light piercing through the water.

His door was still open...

"Wow... This is bigger than other rooms" said Nott who was on his doorstep. The girls were also watching inside.

"So this is a Noble and ancient house dorm? I wish i was part of the twelves" said a voice behind them. It was the Prefect. The firsties didn't say nothing, Harry went out of his bedroom and walked to what looked like a living room. There was a desk there, a fireplace, two large windows offering a better view of Black Lake waters. Candles here and there, book shelves and long table.

They didn't talk much that first night, so they went to sleep early, they still didn't know the dynamic of the house so they didn't wanted to get punished by their head of house in the first day.

They woke up early, the girls had occupied the bathroom for half an hour, leaving the boys waiting in the living room. Theodore Nott had befriended Harry, both boys had similar interest, brooms, Quidditch, charms, duels and Flight racing. They were about to head to the great hall for dinner, when the girls finally got out of there fully prepared.

"The bathroom is free" said Davis smiling.

"About time, we thought we had to lower ourselves like Gryffindor for the first day" said Nott. Both boys washed quickly, what was like an hour for girls was just fifteen minute for them to finish. The group went into the Great hall together. Davis and Nott were silently arguing behind Harry and Greengrass who walked forth as cover. Most of the Slytherin were already in the Great Hall, Ravenclaw started to fill their table, Hufflepuff were absent and the same could be said about the Gryffindor. Soon after 7:20, the tables started to fill, Slytherin had finished their breakfast and so did Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor just started to start their own. Neville was nowhere to be seen.

The head of houses started to distribute the schedules to the students. Harry had double potion with Regulus Black and double Charms for today with Filius Flitwick. Tomorrow had Flying at 10 and Defense against Dark arts at 1 till 4. The Slytherin quickly picked up their bags and went to the dungeons where the Potion was given, they were followed by the Ravenclaws. They already went for the best seats. Harry sat with Nott and Zabini, Daphne went with Tracy and Pansy. Draco was with Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione was with two girls named Mandy and Jessie. The class was about to start when the Puffs and Griff's started to fill the empty potion stations. Just in time as Regulus swung the door open after it was closed. He quickly closed the windows only giving the bare minimum of light to the students, they had to use candles to illuminate their stations. He explained what the classes was about, potion making obviously and also how to prepare the ingredients to avoid disastrous failure of potion making.

His gaze stopped at Ron who was busy trying to talk to Neville, the boy was clearly annoyed, but had said nothing. Regulus decided to test Weasley, if he was like his older brothers, he would have at least one good answer. But alas, the boy didn't, Ron was deduced 5 points and instructed the class to do a healing draught, he put on the blackboard everything they needed, what to do, how to mince the ingredients and what temperature for the preparation. Harry, Nott and Zabini finished quickly their potion, Harry had the best teacher in potion which happen to be his mother. They were dismissed from the class, the next group to be dismissed was Hermione's group.

Nott and Zabini went to the Dungeon while he went for the Owlery, he had to send a letter to his family about his godbrother Neville and what house he had landed. On his way to the Owlery, he was followed by two older Slytherin boys. And just time, a group of Gryffindor were at the corner waiting for him, they hesitated when they saw the elder students with Harry.

"Be careful Ickle Harrykin" said a Redhead boy, reminding him of Ronald

"Yeah, they are rather vicious to our house after your sorting" said the other boy, they were twins...

"Fred and..."

"George Prewett"

"At your service" said both boys at the same time.

"Prewett? Is Gideon Prewett your father?"

"No, he is our Uncle. Our dear mother banished us from the Weasley Family, but our Aunt Muriel welcomed us in hers"

Harry liked these twins, they know what was going on and told him how it worked inside the school and told him about the intrigues in the Slytherin Hierarchy. . They mostly stayed out of their business, since they were not too keen in being part of a Hierarchy and both of them were Beaters of the Slytherin Quidditch team.

"How did you know I was up there?"

"That's our trademark secret. But one day, you will be part of our group" smirked the twins as they stayed just outside of the owlery. Harry quickly went upstairs and attached a letter for Horus to take to his parents. He watched his beautiful Peregrine Falcon fly away, he didn't see the snow white owl staring at him. On his way back to the castle, they saw Hagrid talking with Neville, he was nervous for some reason and there was Ronald just behind him.

"What are you doing with him, Fred, George" sneered Ron to Harry

"Ho? It's Fred and George now?" sneered the twins back. Ron remained silent.

"Know this, the moment you told us that we are better off dead. You have lost the right to even call us your brother" said George, while Fred made sure to glue a timed charm on him that would change his red hairs into a horrible pink. Once inside the school, the twins escorted Harry to the charms class. He thanked them before going inside, the Slytherins were already there and Nott had saved him a seat.

"Where were you?" Asked Nott

"I was in the owlery. Needed to send a letter"

"You went alone?"

"Yeah... I got saved by the Prewett twins"

The class was beginning, instruction started to be written by a levitating chalk on the blackboard. They started to takes note, while the cat on the teacher desk remained silent and watched the student. Then the door swung open, Neville was annoyed by Ron, he was the one who made them late for the Charm class. There was a note in the blackboard, Filius Flitwick was absent and needed to attend important matters outside of the castle and McGonagall was the replacement for his class.

"Good thing, she doesn't know that we are late" said Ron, while Neville already sat in the desk and opened his book. McGonagall was pleased with Longbottom while she was disappointed with her newest Weasley. The cat jumped from the teacher desk and morphed into her human form stopping just in front of him.

"This is wicked!"

"Ho, thank you Mr. Weasley. I guess you don't need a map to take your seat and begin the class?" Ron gulped before he took his seat next to Neville and started writing. While McGonagall went to back to her desk, Malfoy made a ball of paper and tossed it at the back of Ron, who groaned in annoyance. When McGonagall sat on her chair, she coughed to hide a laugh, Ronald had a horrible pink dyed hairs. Harry elbow Nott to see, they chuckled, more and more students started to snigger and the boy was not even aware of his new hair colors. The class ended with Ron cursing Fred and George before storming out of the classroom. And that was for his first day in Hogwarts, an entire house being his enemy, a group of people close to him being his allies. And he also came up with a surname for Ronald... Pinkie.

A/N : I'm planning to publish my other Harry Potter fic here. A Hufflepuff Harry. (well, around 30K words)


	5. Chapter 5 - First flight

A/N : This is a Beta-ed chapter by xx ShamiksXa xx

Chapter 4: Nightmare and Broom Incident

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Harry's eyes opened. Everything was blurry and he didn't recognize the area, but people were speaking French and there was a celebration going on. A hooded man was walking amongst the streets stealthily as if he was wanting to be unrecognized. The young Slytherin boy followed the hooded man carefully. Trodding through a deserted alley, the man apparated to the rooftop, Harry just behind him. He looked around. There was a group of hooded individuals at the rooftop, each one with a different colored uniform. One had a black coat, while another had the British crest on his civilian coat.

"Is the preparation ready?" asked one of them quietly.

"No, Sigmund got caught by the French guards. The mission is jeopardized. We have to retreat."

"You know we can't. Not after the bastard had dismantled the Holy Roman Empire and killed the emperor" snarled the Englishman.

"Then we better..." the hooded man didn't have time to finish his line when his head rolled on the rooftop tiles then fell on the ground.

"In the name of the Emperor, surrender," ordered a French Wizard.

"Surrender?" hissed the Englishman. He sounded snakelike, Harry thought. "Never... AVADA KEDAVRA!"

A flash of sickly, poison green hit the French wizard at point blank. A few other wizards apparated around them. The battle raged for a few minutes, but the French were superior in number.

The English man was the only survivor of his group. Badly wounded, an arm missing, and most of his vest destroyed with massive burns on his face, a French wizard in uniform walked to him.

"You will talk, spy. Who are you and why were you attacking our city?"

"Spy?" The man chuckled. "We are not spies, we are Avengers. You killed so many by following a tyrant. As long as he is alive, we will come back" replied the wounded wizard smiling.

Harry was watching the scene, he was confused. Who was this man? Why were they in Paris? And who were the others?

"Bradley Henry Potter," said the blond man appearing behind the French wizard. Harry's eyes widened in shock and terror.

"You TRAITOR!" yelled Bradley.

"Is this the way to talk to your brother in arm?" said the blond man smugly.

"You are no brother of mine! Aurelius Malfoy!" hissed Bradley, furious.

"I can save you, you know. All you have to do is cooperate, and you'll live."

"I'd rather die than betray my friends."

"Think about your family. Think about Selene and your daughter Irene. How could you leave them? They would be heartbroken."

"You have no right to say their names" hissed Bradley angrily.

"Then, I can't save them from the French coming invasion of England..." Aurelius sighed softly. This time Bradley was laughing.

"The French invading England? You can always try" Aurelius was irritated as he got out his pistol and killed Bradley. Harry was angered by the vision, a shadow started to form around him.

" _You are not ready... Don't come here until you are.._." said a highly pitched voice.

Harry woke up in panic. Casting a tempus charm, he groaned.

"Five AM..." sighed Harry, for he was too early to get up and too late to go back to sleep. Today was a big day for most of the first years. It was the first flying classes starting at ten and Harry didn't like how the day felt. It was always the same thing, his felt something in his guts and something bad happened during the day. His mom told him that it was just his instinct telling him about dangers.

Harry decided to take a walk outside just to change his though and try to forget about the dream. It was really confusing, who were they? And why was a Malfoy calling a Potter his brother in arms? He was lost in his thought when he bumped into the Hogwarts gamekeeper, the half-giant Hagrid.

"Ay, watch it, lad. I didn't come here to be pushed like... Oh. It's you, 'Arry"

"Hello Hagrid," he greeted softly.

"Isn't early for yer? It's only a couple before dawn.

"Nightmares," said Harry.

"Aye... Well, I won't hold yer. Just don't wander into the forest" said the Half-giant walking by. Harry just nodded.

Harry was back in the dungeons as the other houses started to wander in the castle in groups. He didn't want to be caught alone. He was not afraid, he just didn't want to get punished by Regulus now.

He stayed in his bed thinking and wondering if he would receive a letter. When it was time to go in the Great Hall for the breakfast, he just went, following Nott and the girls. They prattled about what would happen in the flight class since all house were mixed for that one. Regulus was sipping tea. He held out his hand in the air waiting for something.

Then, owls started to pour inside the Great Hall from the opened windows, droppings small packs of gifts, newspapers, letters and some larger box for the older years. Harry got three things: a copy of the Daily Prophet, a copy of the International, the Russian counterpart of the Daily Prophet and a letter from his parents. He started reading the International first. Everything was in Cyrillic. There was mostly news about the ongoing goblin invasion, the M.A.C.U.S.A withdrawal from Russian lands, the dwarves refusing the ultimatum and preparing for war alongside the Russian Wizard preparing an operation to repel the Goblins. Names of many people who died because of the goblins were listed on the page. Dismissing the newspaper, he then read his parent's letter.

"What is this?" asked Nott picking up the International.

"A newspapers from my homeland," answered Harry, who kept reading his letter. They asked him to not meddle with Neville for now. They were preparing something on their side to get Neville in the Potter family and away from Dumbledore clutch. His little sister said she missed him dearly.

"Can you tell us what is in the paper?" asked Tracy curiously, looking at the International.

"Well, there is an ongoing rebellion, American wizard who helped them but they withdrawn, a death of muggles and wizards alike by the goblins. The economy is going down, the Dwarves gold is now on the negatives thanks to the goblins who made a lot of economical sanction against them. And some other irrelevant news like strange lights in the skies in Kamchatka"

"Wow... Russia is not doing well," remarked Daphne.

"We're lucky to be here," Nott agreed.

Harry said nothing. He knew that Russia would shatter in the following months. It was close to ten now, and the first years started to go outside for their class. Rolando Hooch was already here waiting for them.

"Come on, go pick your broom in the locker there," she ordered, pointing at the small cabin next to the castle wall. The first year went inside picking up brooms. Harry scouted the broom, there was only two who were good brooms in the whole lot. A Booster 180 and a Comet 130, well they were old brooms, maybe a couple of centuries old maybe? After each one had picked their own, Harry was about to pick the Booster 180, but he felt a jolt in his scar when his hand approached it. He pulled his hand sharply, this broom was trouble, jinxed maybe. He picked up the Comet 130 instead and went outside, he didn't see Daphne picking up the Booster 180.

Everyone was already lining up in front of the teacher with their broom in their hands. Rolando instructed them to let the broom on the ground and wait for further instruction waiting for the remaining students who were still in the cabin. Once everyone had their broom on the ground, she started talking.

"Hello, students! Today, we will take our first class in flying brooms. Now I want everyone to be on the right side of their respective broom. Come on, we don't have all day" All student complied without question and were waiting for her to continue.

"Okay, now lift your hand above your broom and order it UP," shouted Madame Hooch.

"Up!" ordered Harry sharply. Instantly, his broom flew to his hand gracefully. It felt natural as if it was meant to be there, to Harry. Pleased with himself, he looked around to see the others. Only a few were able to do just like Harry, he noted. Ron, on the other hand, was faced with snickers from both houses when he was able to miss the broom and get hit in the face by the handle. Everyone giggled, while some Slytherin were laughing smugly.

"Shut up Malfoy" hissed Ron, the blond boy rolled his eyes. Then the teacher instructed them to get on their brooms for the fun part as she explained.

"Now at 3... 1... 2... 3!" she whistled. A few students were a couple feets above the ground, but one student had lost control of her broom and was skyrocketing above then dived sharply.

"Blimey! Daphne!" yelled Tracy while holding her hands clamped on her mouth. Harry launched and shot after her- while ignoring Hooch protests and screeching- and followed Daphne closely.

The girl had a tight grip on the broom. Her face was pale and filled with terror, The broom made some sort of barrel roll, almost flinging the girl off it. Terrified, Daphne shrieked and screamed her lungs out until she was an only a whisper. Harry darted behind her closely. He tried to pull her from the cursed broom but the broom averted and turned sharply on the left, only slightly missing the sharp pike on one of the statues then kicked off the ground again- Harry still behind her.

Harry was enchanted by the feel of flying. The broom felt perfect in his hands. The wind flying through his hair and piercing his cheeks were painful, but satisfying in a way. He felt free, he felt like nothing was stopping him. And he should feel that. He was defying gravity, and there was nothing there to stop him.

The students on the ground watched in horror and awe what was happening. Everyone gasped when Daphne was finally thrown off the broom and started to fall to the ground. Harry dived to the ground directly, catching the plummeting girl's hand. Harry lead the broom to land softly- and they did, but the girl was in shock- trembling, sobbing, shaking, and wailing in fear. Harry held her tightly. She held him back.

Hooch was now unto them. Until then, Harry had not thought about the dangers of going after Daphne or the punishments. Dreading the lecture he was about to get, he faced the teacher.

"Well, Mr. Potter, you saved a fellow student today. I can't really punish you for it, can I? Yet I'm displeased that you blatantly ignored my orders" Madame Hooch had a glint in her eye, though that did not reassure Harry that he wasn't in trouble.

"With all due respect professor," replied Harry, still holding the shivering girl in his arms. "Sometimes, it's better to say 'To hell with orders' There was a life at stake, I couldn't just let her die, could I?"

Rolando didn't say anything, which was a strange notion, considering that what Harry had just done was against about a dozen school rules. She assumed it was a good notion in this situation, no matter how dangerous it was. He had good morals and good intentions. Shaking his head, she cleared her mind. Potter was an ethical person with a hero complex. That was all. He was a decent flier, as well, and deserved no punishment.

Harry had not seen the Headmaster who had observed curiously through the windows of the Astronomy tower. The old man had seen the whole incident. He was impressed with how Mr. Potter had handled the situation. Oh yes, he would make a good sacrifice for his plan. If he was not complying, there was always Neville Longbottom as his backup plan. The old man went upstairs while chewing a tart lemon drop.

Harry, Tracy, and Nott were helping Daphne to the Infirmary. Hooch needed to be sure that the girl was not injured- no scratches, bruises, or scrapes. Harry was also awarded 30 points for saving Daphne from falling. The nurse was surprised to see him enter the infirmary with a pale looking Daphne. She examined her, using a charm to see if she had any cuts and appeared to be fine. All she just needed to rest, food, and get some more sleep. She was ordered by the nurse to stay there for the night just in case after what her housemates had told her about the broom incident earlier.

A paper airplane flew in from an opened window in the infirmary and landed hit Harry on the back of his head. Rubbing where the plane had hit him, he picked up the paper aircraft and unfolded it.

"What is it?" asked Nott curiously. He didn't look over Harry's shoulder, but he did want to know.

"Regulus want to see me," answered Harry. Gulping, he was sure he was about to be punished for doing something Gryffindor-ish.

"Will you be alright?" demanded Tracy protectively. After what happened earlier, they were pretty shaken up as well.

"I'll manage," said Harry. He sounded like he was trying to persuade himself, not fully convinced either.

"I'll stay here with Daphne," said Tracy, looking at the sleeping girl.

Nott nodded at her. "Harry and I will pick you up and catch up later. We will be back after Harry meeting with Black. It shouldn't be that long."

Going downstairs to the dungeons was not exactly pleasant. Gryffindors glared and sneered at him. "You will be expelled now, Potter!" yelled a Gryffindor on the other side of the corridor. Others cheered with him. It was the Weasley. They ignored him- surely he was used to that at his own house by now. The Slytherin patted his back, however, congratulating him for saving Daphne. And here they were... in front of Regulus office.

"You want me to go along?" asked Nott. worried about Harry, he added; "You know it'll be fine."

"No, I'll manage. I'll try to make it brief" said Harry quickly, and entered. Nott nodded and went to his dorm to pick up books for him, Harry, and Tracy for the next class.

"Hello, Profes..." Harry's voice was stunned into silence when he saw Severus Snape here. Snape waved his wand and closed the door then locking it with a powerful locking charm then finished with a silencing charm.

"Hello, Potter. Surprise to see me?"

"Surprise? I never suspected you in the first place. What are you doing here?"

"Easy, when you impersonate a dead man." Snape ran a hair through his oily hair.

"Regulus is dead?" If it was possible, Harry's mouth dropped even more. "How were you able to impersonate him, then?"

"Ah, that. I found his body. No one knows that he is dead and I used this opportunity to impersonate him. Rather genius, if you ask me."

"Brilliant... Slightly creepy using the essence of a dead man for the Polyjuice but brilliant."

"Thanks," said Snape neutrally. "I've heard about your exploit during the flying class with the broom incident. That was interesting, wasn't it?"

"Yeah... Sorry." Apologized Harry sheepishly.

"For what Potter?" answered Snape in surprise.

"Errr... I acted Gryffindor-ish which is not how a Slytherin should act?"

"Don't be a dunderhead Potter. You acted like a true Slytherin" said Snape smirking briefly. "Good job."

"What will happen to me, then?"

"Nothing... However, stories of your exploit were heard by the Slytherin Quidditch Captain. Luckily for you, he asked if you could go to the tryouts for a position that will happen before the end of this month"

"Am I authorized?" asked Harry eagerly.

"Yes. I signed the papers and Dumbledore agreed that it was okay to bend some rules for you. You are also authorized to have your own broom."

Harry said nothing, mostly surprised and relieved that he was not punished.

"Well, now go. I think you next class start in... hmm, let's see, about ten minutes" Snape started to drink the Polyjuice from a flask. Harry gulped. He bet it most had tasted like shit or something rotten since Snape was impersonating a dead man. Snape undid the charms on the door nonverbally and let Harry go. Nott was outside, leaning on the wall waiting for him.

"Finally!" he grinned. "I was about to ditch you and leave you alone."

"What? You're willing to let the only first-year member of the Quidditch team in more than a century alone?" smirked Harry. Nott eyes widened in disbelief.

"You have got to be kidding me!"


End file.
